Manifesto seen as ‘putting old wine in a new bottle’
The election platform unveiled yesterday for chief executive candidate John Lee Ka-chiu pledged to “open a new chapter for Hong Kong together” but critics say the dearth of bold new ideas does not assure the public there will be a break from the past.
Several said the elements in the manifesto felt like “old wine in a new bottle”.
As he announced his 44-page platform, Lee, the city’s former No 2 official, said there was no doubt there was much “we could draw upon and learn from our past”.
“It is equally clear that there remain many deep-rooted problems that require urgent remedy,” he added. “It is high time Hong Kong starts a new chapter of development.”
Lee did try to carve a new area when he underscored the need to take decisive action, making in effect an oblique attack on the current administration. The former policeman said “after all the big debates on land use, it’s time for execution” when he addressed a question on solutions to ease the city’s housing crunch.
The line was in keeping with his vision of a “result-oriented” approach shared earlier this month when he announced his bid for the city’s top job. “Hong Kong’s housing woes have dragged on for more than 20 years and there are already too many schemes on the table,” he said.
In another move to signal change, Lee proposed setting up a new “mobilisation protocol” for responding to emergencies to ensure government departments could coordinate and deploy personnel based on the urgency of a crisis. An “interdepartmental emergency response unit” will also be set up to oversee the coordinated effort.
The suggestion was again a critique of the current administration’s failure to have a command centre to mobilise effectively to combat the fifth wave of coronavirus infections, forcing mainland authorities to provide help and counsel.
Lee’s 35-minute speech was reminiscent of that by former chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen in June 2005, when the latter declared his candidacy for a by-election to succeed the city’s first leader Tung Chee-hwa, who had resigned three months earlier citing health reasons.
In a rousing campaign speech on June 2, 2005, Tsang, son of a police officer, pledged a fresh start for Hong Kong and urged the public to forget the past.
“Let us forget the grievances and set aside the worries and emotions over the past seven years. As long as we work together in an inclusive manner, we can find answers to all differences and problems,” Tsang had said.
While Tsang enjoyed a relatively long period of calm during his tenure, it remains to be seen if Lee will have built enough capital in the coming months to get people to buy into his vision of breaking away from the past.
Pro-Beijing politicians and business leaders were quick to laud his speech. Some said they believed his governing style would bring Hong Kong to new heights.
Business tycoon Allan Zeman said Lee made a “great speech”.
“Finally creating an administration that will be result-oriented, treading where no administration has gone before,” said Zeman, a member of the presidium of Lee’s campaign office.
“As someone with a security background who values discipline and outcomes, Lee has addressed all of the shortcomings that have hung over our heads for so long. Hong Kong is back and John is the one who can make it happen.”
On whether Lee had addressed enough on issues of public concern, including political reform and healing the deep divisions in society, Zeman said there would be “lots and lots of social issues that will keep Lee busy for a very long time, on housing and the low-income groups”.
He added that currently for Hong Kong, political issues should be given relatively low priority.
But some analysts and civic groups took issue with Lee’s failure to address sensitive topics such as political development and universal suffrage.
Lo Kin-hei, chairman of the opposition Democratic Party, said Lee was “putting old wine in a new bottle” as some of his initiatives were already implemented by the current government, such as his pledge to solve intergenerational poverty and early allocation of public flats.
“He was just naming these policies with some new names, which actually did not differ much from current policies,” Lo said. “As for innovation and technology centres and arbitration centres, they have been advocated by previous administrations.”
Chinese University political scientist Ivan Choy Chi-keung said Lee’s manifesto covered very few areas and was generalised in content, without specific policies on education and constitutional reform. “With such few details on policies in his platform, it is very hard for the public to scrutinise and compare whether Lee would be able to do some good work in the future,” he said.
But Lau Siu-kai, vice-president of semi-official think tank the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, said the public might not be too invested in policy details but would trust Lee if he produced results quickly.
“The public will care more about whether Lee can demonstrate courage and strength in execution.”
The public will care more [if Lee can show] courage and strength in execution
LAU SIU-KAI, THINK TANK SPOKESMAN